MSP in NYC

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER
Published: October 28, 2011

Penn Weinberger had grown attached to his college admissions essay. The topic — coping with a brother’s attention deficit disorder — was important to him. The anecdotes clicked. The characters had dimension. The meaning, as his teachers at Hunter College High School had long advised him, was shown, not told.

The only problem with Penn’s writing was the math: It was 650 words, outside the 250- to 500-word range re-established by the Common Application this spring — after a four-year experiment with no upper limit — but only now being grappled with as deadlines for early admissions approach next week.

“I just had to chop down all the emotion,” Penn said.

Unlike other parts of the application, which, in its online version, cuts students off midword if they exceed character limits, the personal statement won’t be truncated, raising the question in school corridors: Does 500 really mean 500?

In a word, no. In two words, kind of.

“If a student uploaded a 500,000-word essay, there’s nothing we could do,” said Rob Killion, executive director of Common Application, which is accepted by more than 400 colleges and universities. “However, we do ask that all students follow the same rules their peers are following.”

Mr. Killion said the word limit was reinstated after feedback that essays had grown too long. But essays are not labeled with word counts.

Jon Reider, director of college counseling at San Francisco University High School, agreed that concise writing was laudable but said that the implication of a strict limit was misleading. “I worry about that kid who’s written 530 and thinks he has to cut 30 words,” he said. “It just puts another stage of anxiety in front of these kids.”

Jeffrey Brenzel, dean of undergraduate admissions at Yale, said he did not stop reading if an essay ran long, but “if they go over the limit, the stakes go up.”

While Penn’s classmates at Hunter have debated on Facebook whether the limit will be enforced, Duncan Hosie, a senior at San Francisco University High School, has winnowed his essay about democracy and family from 890 words to what he described as “a 500-word haiku.” Michail Paunwar, a senior in Westfield, Ind., excluded the painful hospital scenes about his father’s colon cancer, figuring admissions officers could do without “a sob story.”

And a senior in New Jersey, whose first draft topped 700 words, said she decided to fictionalize portions of her piece, merging characters or events. “That really got rid of a lot of words,” she said.

Then there is Eva Peter, a classmate of Penn’s at Hunter, who said the final version of her essay about liking sports and science as a girl was “a worse piece of writing” than the 700-plus word original. Characters are intact, but less vivid. The message persists, though less pointedly.

“It fulfills the duty of a standard college essay,” she said with a shrug.

And, at 497 words, it fulfills the mandate of the Common Application. At 499, so does this article.

By: Nil

When I got my schedule this year there was a different type of class on it. It was named TAS. So, I asked my teacher about it and he told me that it’s about teaching freshmen math or science and we will be our teacher’s assistant. Or Teaching Assistant Scholar as the program calls it.

I was definitely excited because it’s a brand new experience for me. After some days passed, I discovered that being a TAS is something special. When I’m in the classroom I feel like people are learning from me, they’re following me. So, before doing something inappropriate I think twice. I always try to help all the students in my group. A student who is a little weaker than the other students, I try to help him more. If somebody has problem in writing, I assist in their writing.

I always try to give my best to teach my students. I feel like if they do bad then the responsibility is mine because I’m their TAS. So, I try to make my students the best students in the classroom. And before every class, I prepare myself for that day. Because I’ve to be the expert on what I’m teaching.

So, in short I can say that being a TAS means being a more responsible and prepared person. And I also like to feel like the teacher in the classroom.

Because you are in the first stages of preparing for college you should already be thinking of how you’d like to present yourself in your college essay. Your transcript, resume, and recommendations help to bulk up the application with your academic achievements but the esssay is where the admissions officers can get a feel for the kind of college student you’ll be and how you’ll represent the school.

Read this article published in the New York Times on September 23, 2011 that outlines steps to take when writing your college application essay.

To all the new Teaching Assistant Scholars and PERC Teachers,

The purpose of this blog is for disseminating information to you that we think you might be interested in. This includes meeting dates and times, success stories, the latest news on MSPinNYC2, Professional Development and College NOW opportunities, and personal writings from your fellow TAS. We hope to give you a flavor of the program and we welcome your suggestions on content.

We believe PERC is a model for the future: It supports teachers, improves student performance, and costs little. It creates young leaders, engages students deeply in learning, and has the potential to change school culture. It is a powerful tool for increasing graduation rates among disadvantaged youth, while drawing them in greater numbers toward future careers in mathematics and science.

This program will set you on an academic path of success so take advantage of all it has to offer!

Talk to you soon!
Lisa R.
TAS-to-College Pipeline Coordinator

22 days. 15 Teaching Assistant Scholars. 6 Teachers. 2 College Now teachers. 9 NOYCE scholars. 56 students. 3 classes. 2 CUNY professors. 2 MSP staff. 162 granola bars. 26 pizzas. 60 journals. 12 hours of training. 34 hours of Professional Development. 224 mock Regents exams. 55 August 2011 Regents exams. 1 successful summer.

INTEGRATED ALGEBRA PERC Student Stats 

Sit Rate/Pass Rate: 
32 out of 33 students took the exam (96.97% sit rate)
30/32 students passed at +65 (93.75% pass rate) 

Percent increase from June Regents:
Every student increased their score, the lowest increase was 23% and the highest increase was 141% 

Percent over 75%
23 students out of 32 scored over a 75 (71.875% of the students scored over a 75) 

Percent over 80%
16 students out 32 scored over 80 (50% of the students scored over 80)  

TAS Stats:
8 out of 8 (100%) over 75+ 
6 out of 8 (75%) over 85+
3 out of 8 (37.5%) over 90+
1 out of 8 (12.5%) over 95+ 

TAS % Increase
Smallest % Increase was 0%
Largest % Increase was 13.5% 
 

LIVING ENVIRONMENT PERC Student Stats

Sit Rate/Pass Rate:
23 out of 23 students took the exam (100% sit rate)
19 out of 23 students passed at +65 (82.5% pass rate) 

Percent increase from June Regents:
Every student increased their score, the lowest increase was 15% and the highest increase was 59% 

Percent over 75%
11 students out of 23 scored over a 75 (48% of the students scored over a 75) 

TAS Stats
6 out of 7 took the exam (we exempted one because her original score was 100)
6 out of 6 (100%) over 75+
6 out of 6 (100%) over 85+
3 out of 6 (50%) over 90+ 

TAS % Increase
Smallest % increase was 0%
Largest % increase was 9%